A month had passed already; it was amazing how fast a month could pass
to Renae. Just four weeks ago she was working in the college library
and just another part time coffee house singer. Now after quitting
her job in the library, Renae worked as much as she could as a cashier
and singer at Insomnia. And she had a friendship with Isaac Hanson.
He had been coming in at least 3 times a week to see her and chat with
her for a bit. He had also brought in a couple of his friends--all
who were really cool. They were really starting to become good friends.
So she wasn't too surprised when Isaac stepped into Insomnia and strode
up to the counter.
"What can I do for you?" Renae asked him with a smile.
"Hmm, let me have a tall latte and a date with you Saturday," Isaac said
smoothly.
"Okay, one tall latte and a date..." Renae stopped. "Excuse
me?"
"A date with you Saturday," Isaac said slowly. "What do you say?"
"Well, I dunno what to say, Isaac. I mean, I don't know if they need
me Saturday or not," Renae answered, scrambling for an excuse. The
date sounded great, but she didn't want to get close to another guy; she
was perfectly content being single.
"Don't worry Renae," Jacob said, coming up to her. "You've been working
your butt off, and you need an entire day off. I'll cover for you."
Renae caught him giving Isaac a wink.
"You two are conspiring against me???" Renae asked. "I can't believe
this!"
"Hey, you two go talk," Jacob said. "I'll man the counter for a bit."
With that Renae stepped out in front of the counter and sat at a table
in the corner with Isaac.
"So, Renae, what do you think?" Ike asked.What
am I going to do? Renae asked. She said a quick, silent prayer,
God,
please, give me peace for this decision. Should I accept this or
not? She felt something inside her quiet and she knew the answer
was yes. Thank you Holy Father. It is in Jesus' precious
holy name that I pray. Amen. "Well, what time are you talking
about on Saturday?"
"I was thinking Saturday night, maybe about 7 or so. Go out for dinner
and a movie," Isaac said.
Renae smiled; it was hard not to smile when you were staring at a positively
adorable guy. "Okay, what time should I expect you to pick me up?"
She loved seeing those brown eyes light up with hope.
"Well, if that's a yes, how about sometime between 6:30 and 7?" Isaac asked.
Renae bit her lip shyly. "Okay." Gosh, I feel like such
a little school girl!! Get a grip Renae! "Oh my gosh!
I forgot about your tall latte. Let me get that all ready for you."
"That's okay," Isaac shrugged. "I got what I came for."
Renae turned around and gave him an "Oh really?" look. "No, I've
already rung you up, so you ARE going to have a tall latte!"

Isaac
buttoned the cuffs on his shirt as he headed for the bathroom. Fortunately,
it wasn't occupied. As he ran gel through his hair, Zac stopped in
the doorway.
"So, you've got a date finally?" he asked.
"Yes, I do. So what??"
At that time Jes joined Zac. "So, who is she? What does she
look like? Is she nice?"
"I don't do this to you guys when you go on dates, do I?" Isaac asked.
"Well, that's part of being a big brother. Us younger kids get to
bug you about your love life!" Jes explained jokingly.
"Well, just so you know, her name is Renae--"
"Whoa, the chick from Insomnia! Cool!" Zac interrupted.
"Yes Zac, it's her. Anyway, she's very pretty and she is very nice."
"So, where are you taking her?" Taylor asked, standing behind his brother
and sister.
"WHAT IS THIS?? A FREAKIN' FAMILY CONVENTION??" Isaac exclaimed.
"Can't a guy get ready to go out without everyone in his family asking
him questions?"
"No," they said in unison.
Diana walked by the crowd. "Okay, what's going on?" she asked.
"Isaac's going on a date," Zac informed.
"Then why does he need you three here? Isaac's old enough to get
ready by himself," Diana said. "So shoo!" The three left and
Diana was left. "I'm glad you're going out tonight. Is this
the reason that you've been going to that coffee shop so often for a month
now?" Isaac stared at her in disbelief as his mother smiled.
"I know more than what you may think, Isaac. But you really seem
to like her."
"I do Mom," Ike replied softly. "She's an incredibly sweet person,
and talented! Gosh Mom, this girl can play and sing like you wouldn't
believe!"
"Is she Christian?" Diana asked.
"Yes she is. It's so obvious that she is; Renae is trying to live
the Christian life, and it shows," Isaac explained.
"Well, you two have fun, okay?" Diana said. "I'll let you finish
get ready."
"Thanks Mom," Isaac said, smiling. He finished getting ready, got
in his car, and left for Renae's apartment. He ended up getting there
a little after 6:30 and Anne answered the door.
"Hi, Anne is it?" Isaac asked.
"Yeah, it is. Come on in," Anne said. He could tell she was
checking him out, probably deciding if he was good enough for her friend.
"Have a seat; Renae should be finished in a little bit."
"Okay, thank you," Isaac said. They sat facing each other and there
was a few moments of awkward silence.
"So, what are your plans for tonight?" she asked him.
"We're going to go out somewhere to eat and then catch a movie," Isaac
answered.
"Okay," Anne said. Silence. Anne scooted closer to Isaac and
kept her voice low. "Okay, I may be a fan of your music, but my friend
comes first. If you do anything to her, and I mean anything,
your ass is mine."
"Don't worry Anne, I'm not going to let anything happen to her, and I'm
not going to do anything to harm her," Isaac said. "I wouldn't want
that."
"Well neither do I," Anne replied. Anne sat back as Renae walked
into the room; she looked awesome in a white sweater and jeans.
"I hope this isn't too casual," she replied, nervously tucking her hair
behind her ears. "But I didn't want to freeze my butt off!"
"No, it's just fine," Isaac answered. "It was nice meeting you Anne."
"Nice meeting you," Anne replied back.
"See you later," Renae said to Anne, a huge smile on her face. And
Isaac led his date out the door.

Renae
sat across from Isaac at the TGIFriday's with her chicken salad and sipped
her tea. "So, how is your album coming along?"
"It's coming along really well. We do some recording and some songwriting.
But let's not talk about the album, okay? I want to keep this as
a normal date between two people," Isaac replied. "Have you dated
much?"
Renae bit her lip. "No, actually I haven't dated much. Only
one other guy. How about you?"
"I've dated a few girls," Isaac said. "But they've sort of been all
over the place."
"Yeah, back in Oklahoma City, I went out with this one guy, but it was
for just a few months. He had to move," Renae replied.
"Are you sorry about that?" Isaac asked.
"Oh no. It probably wouldn't have lasted anyway." Renae stared
down at her food, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the conversation.
The rest of the dinner went smoothly, as well as the movie. Before
she knew it, the movie was over and they were heading back to her apartment.
Isaac pulled into a parking spot close to the apartment. The two
walked up the stairs, holding hands. When they reached her door,
she turned to face Isaac. "I really enjoyed tonight," she said softly,
still holding his hand, which was strong.
"I did too. I hope we can do this again sometime," Isaac answered
huskily. Renae saw his face lean towards hers slowly, and her head
started to lift...NO! Renae pulled back. "Umm, I better
go in. I'll see you around," Renae said, and quickly darted inside,
leaving Isaac confused.

Isaac was totally confused. Things had gone great during the date,
and there was some chemistry there he thought, but why had she pulled away
from him? He could have sworn she had lifted her head to him, but
then she pulled away. Was his breath horrible? What was it?
He had no idea...